813-831-RENT(7368)

Apollo Beach Property Management

Frustrated because your Property is sitting VACANT -- for months -- and your Apollo Beach Property Manager has no answers?

Being overcharged by Handymen, Plumbers, and Electricians?

Sick and Tired of Dealing with Tenants?

As a rental property owner aren't the above three questions your major source of aggravation and lost income?

Typically, it takes us 2 to 4 weeks to rent your house or condo to a fully qualified tenant. If a property does not rent in one month there is a problem. I have never found an exception. Stress Free Property Management answers all 3 questions in a surprising manner just below...

Costly Mistake # 1 - "Not Working With A Property Manager With a Systematic Process For Attracting Quality Tenants"

Not Working with Someone with a Systematic Process for attracting a “constant” stream of quality tenants

Gone are the “good-old days”… of just throwing out a rental sign in the yard, on Wednesday, and the home would be rented by the end of the weekend. There is just too much competition out there, at the moment.

There is no way anyone can successfully manage properties -- especially a large volume of properties -- unless they have a proven system for finding quality tenants quickly. My business partner and I have spent the last 12 years creating, testing, and refining our marketing system. We call it our “Instant Tenant Attraction.” I know that sounds a little "hokey" but we have to call it something memorable, and it generates 5 to 7 times the amount of tenant calls as the traditional rental signs on the property and ad in the newspaper.

Let me discuss a few of them now, but keep in mind, all these methods are trade secrets that my competitors would love to learn. Therefore, I obviously can’t reveal all my strategies so I will only highlight a couple of them.

We generate 532% more responses than a newspaper ad using a little known but highly effective website for advertising rentals. I know this sounds unbelievable, but we have tested this over and over again, with the same results. Nowadays, tenants simply prefer looking for rentals online, rather than the newspaper (as evidenced by many newspapers, around the country, struggling or going broke recently).

A rapid process for qualifying good tenants, and getting them to put down a deposit on your rental, quickly. Most managers take 3 or 4 days to approve a rental application. By that time, the tenant has often found something else.

Now this is not to say that we aren’t being picky, WE ARE. For example, we have found that about 30% of tenants are lying (a little or a lot) on their rental applications. They might use their friends as their landlord or employer, give a false social security number, or are currently under eviction at their present address. There are dozens of scams that horrible tenants use to try and slip under the radar, and move into your home.

However, the reason we focus on completing the background checks for a possible new tenant -- within 24 business hours -- is extremely important. When you think about it, the tenant is still out there… looking at other properties. IF he or she appears to be a quality tenant, we want them off the market by signing your lease, sooner rather than later.

At last count, we had over 17 different methods for attracting quality tenants. This stuff took years of testing and refining all sorts of ideas, to find the ones that actually work.

You hired a Realtor, who sells homes for a living, rather than a Property Management Specialist.

If you stop for a moment and think about this, most realtors (in fact most people) do not enjoy being property managers. In fact, if someone didn’t choose to specialize in property management, he is in affect choosing to do it part-time. Therefore, how good can he possibly be? It’s kind of like an accountant selling mortgages, or a high school teacher selling life insurance on the side.

Not to mention, if someone is just doing something to pay their bills, when their regular income is slow, what happens when their business picks up? You would have to think your property would become less of a priority, right?

Sadly, for most realtors, who dabble in property management, this is exactly what happens. He or she is really only passionate about writing contracts and collecting BIG Commissions, from selling homes and NOT renting them.

No question, Realtors are happy to rent out your home, BUT there is a big temptation to just put the first “live body” that comes through the door. It is a lot of work to market your rental effectively, answer phone calls, and do proper background checks. Not to mention, all the work servicing your tenants, once they move in.

When you think about it, most Realtors’ long term success is not based on your rental property performing well. Selling houses is really what their after.

When you are dealing with someone like us, we have the same “vested” interests. I want to rent your home quickly, to a good tenant, because that’s the only way I make money. Our focus is not selling homes, but managing rental properties (like yours) for the long haul.

This is what has made us so successful, and it is why 99% of our property owners remain our clients, year after year.

The end result is you get a property management specialist who lives and breathes this stuff as their chosen profession, rather than a typical realtor just managing homes, until sales pick up.

Costly Mistake # 3 - "Allowing a Property to Sit Vacant for Months At a Time Without Making Changes"

Allowing a property to sit vacant for 3, 5, or even 7 months, hoping for a good tenant to come along.

Let me assure you about one thing when it comes to finding a good tenant:

Hope…Is Not A Good Business Strategy!

I see this mistake all the time. So let me give you my “cardinal rule” for property management:

IF your property is sitting vacant for more than a month, there is at least one thing WRONG that must be fixed, and I have NEVER found an exception. And YES, this is true even in today’s economy.

The first and most common issue is the rent is just too high and has to come down a bit. Right now, the rental market is very good. You can ask for higher rents than in the past. However, tenants are still checking to make sure the rental rate is reasonable to similar properties in the neighborhood

An honest, No B.S. Assessment Of Market RentIn other words, how much can you realistically rent your home for in the next 30 days? And by the way, you should be willing to drop the rent a bit below that price (if necessary) to start getting cash flow rolling in.

Without question, in this economy, renters will negotiate rent. And the reality is, the property owner who is flexible will get the best tenants for the longest amount of time.

Look, I know this is not a popular topic to discuss. After all, who likes to talk about getting less money? However, I’d rather have you know this up front rather than after your property has been sitting vacant for six months, because the rent is too high.

I’ve routinely seen rental homes sit vacant for being just $50 a month more than the going rate for similar homes in the neighborhood. So it’s extremely important you get this right.

The second common issue is something goes wrong inside your rental, after it was painted and cleaned. For example, we sometimes have unusual paint colors in certain bedrooms. The owner wanted us to try and rent the home as is and the paint looked fine. The trouble is that most of the people looking do not like the color scheme. Maybe it just doesn't match their furniture, who knows, but feedback is poor.

Or sometimes, bugs will suddenly show up. Not to be gross but a few dead roaches on the floor will scare away just about anyone. Other times, the roof, toilet, or sink might suddenly start leaking, and anyone who visits starts wondering what else might be wrong with the home. So, they pass on your rental property because they think if the owner missed these “obvious” repairs, it is just the tip of the iceberg. In their mind, there is probably a hell of a lot MORE things wrong, they can’t see.

The key is to get feedback from tenants after they look at your rental, so you can spot this stuff early and fix it. We are constantly quizzing tenants who visit one of your properties to find out why they didn’t rent. Based on their feedback, we make any necessary repairs to your rental, immediately. For example, the carpets may need to be steam cleaned again, because some stains showed back up, or the maid needs to clean the bathroom again, because she forgot to wash down the tub. You get the idea.

Although this may sound very simple, this is extremely uncommon in the property management industry. Most property managers don’t own rental properties of their own, and therefore, haven’t had the painful experience of their own rental property sitting vacant because of one of these issues.

Regardless of the reasons, we have learned (the hard way) that well over 65% of all tenants who look at a typical rental property, are turned-off, instantly. They are turned off because either the rent is too high in comparison to similar properties in the neighborhood, or one or more things are wrong inside the home, like bugs or leaks. Think about it, haven’t you experienced the same negative first impression, looking at places to rent when you were younger?

We have learned to carefully and objectively research the real world, rental rates of properties we manage for our clients. We check online and in newspapers to see what properties are currently available for rent, in a specific neighborhood or zip code.

Our goal is to find 4 or 5 similar properties so we are comparing apples to apples. If you price your rental $75 above what other similar properties in the neighborhood are priced at, it will sit vacant… a long time.

Is it a bit more complicated than this? No, not really... However there are a large number of things inside your rental that need to be checked carefully so tenants are not turned off.

We also carefully inspect your home with our unique 67 point “Ready to Rent” Checklist.

This checklist was developed from years of trying to figure out why certain homes rent quickly and others do not.

My inspection staff checks everything, from ensuring the closet doors are hung properly in the bedrooms, to looking under the sink for any water leaks. It is vital we are thorough, because each of these 67 areas will either offer a positive or negative impression to tenants.

My operating philosophy is if my mom wouldn’t be 100% satisfied with the cleanliness and condition then the rental is not ready to rent.

However, the average property manager or landlord often just does the minimum to get a house ready for rent. This is a mistake and results in the property sitting vacant for months, and eventually, renting to a lower quality tenant, who typically pays the rent late and doesn’t take care of the home.

Just to recap, any property owner that uses our management services receive the following:

67 point “Ready to Rent Checklist” - This will ensure the property is properly cleaned, painted, and all necessary repairs are completed PRIOR to putting the property on the market for rent. As I mentioned before, this is the number one reason why properties sit vacant for 3 to 7 months, instead of 30 days.($764 Average Savings By Renting Your Home Faster)

“11 Hour Straight Talk” – My trained leasing staff answers calls from prospective tenants from 8:00am to 7:00pm Monday-Friday. They even answer the majority of phone calls from 11:00am-7:00pm on the weekends.($575 Average Savings By Getting A Qualified Tenant Out To See Your Home Quickly)

24/7 Zero Overhead Repair Service – 80% of repairs that may arise will be handled by 1 of our 4 well trained handyman at a fraction of the cost of hiring your typical repairmen out of the yellow pages or newspaper. When we need to hire a licensed electrician, plumber, or AC tech, we have already negotiated extremely low rates by finding the folks with no overhead, and giving them a ton of repeat business.($875 Average Repair Savings, Annually on Each Property)

“Instant Tenant Attraction” System – Developed after 12 years & 2,138 + tenants. This advertising system generates 5 to 7 times the amount of tenant calls, compared to traditional rental signs and ads in the newspaper. Even better, you don’t pay an extra dime for all the extra advertising we perform to find you a good tenant.($550 Average Savings By Getting A Quality Tenant Much Faster)

No Unnecessary Fees – you DO NOT pay an advertising or set-up/processing fee. You don’t (in fact) pay us anything up front. We get paid only after we find you a good tenant and collect the first month’s rent from them. “Paid for Performance” is the way it should be.($300-$800 Value Compared To Our Competitors)

These 5 different programs and guarantees are provided to all of our property management clients. You can’t find a SINGLE competitor offering this level of service or guarantee, anywhere in the Apollo Beach Bay area.

If these are the kinds of control you want to have in place…if you want a property manager to take charge and get the job done, then the next step is to see if the properties you own are a fit for us. The most effective and efficient way we found is to fill out our Property Owner Inquiry Form.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Apollo Beach community has a total area of 5.9 square miles (15.3 km²), of which, 5.7 square miles (14.7 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) of it (3.56%) is water

The median income for a household in the community was $51,480, and the median income for a family was $58,378. Males had a median income of $42,427 versus $28,732 for females. The per capita income for the community was $28,583. About 2.4% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Apollo Beach is named for the mythical Greek God who brought light and warmth to the world each day. Locals say that the name was given by Dorothy Corr, the wife of the community's developer and founder Francis J. Corr, in the 1960s when the US space program was taking off in Florida. Apollo Beach boasts a beautiful waterfront community. It is a year-round haven for boating and fishing enthusiasts, with its many miles of canals and inlets.

Perhaps the fifty-five miles of navigable canals are the best known characteristic of Apollo Beach. The canals average a depth of seven feet in the center and all are connected, eventually merging into Apollo Beach Bay. The canals themselves are lined with magnificent homes, with lush tropical foliage. The majority of homesites have docking facilities with sail boats and motor boats lining both sides of each canal.

The history of Apollo Beach started in 1923 on land used annually for farming and grazing pasture. Much of the land was estuarial in nature and mangrove swamps. It was all low and considered uninhabitable. The land at that time was owned by the Dickman Family, and it was then that Paul Dickman conceived the idea of a waterfront community. He felt the location was such that it lent itself to the development of a city, since U.S. Highway 41 lay approximately equal distance between Apollo Beach and Bradenton.